self-defense
Americannoun
-
the act of defending one's person when physically attacked, as by countering blows or overcoming an assailant.
the art of self-defense.
-
a claim or plea that the use of force or injuring or killing another was necessary in defending one's own person from physical attack.
He shot the man who was trying to stab him and pleaded self-defense at the murder trial.
-
an act or instance of defending or protecting one's own interests, property, ideas, etc., as by argument or strategy.
Other Word Forms
- self-defensive adjective
Etymology
Origin of self-defense
First recorded in 1645–55
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Iran's surviving leaders have voiced defiance and said that counter-attacks were justified as self-defense.
From Barron's
Rio's militias emerged around four decades ago when former police officers and security agents created so-called self-defense groups to protect communities from drug gangs.
From Barron's
The ruling amounted to a test case of South Carolina’s stand-your-ground law—which, like similar statutes in states around the U.S., provides criminal and civil immunity in self-defense killings.
“This campaign cannot be justified as self-defense,” Muyaya said in an interview.
“Their claim was self-defense, sir / Just don’t believe your eyes,” Springsteen sings with his familiar rasp.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
